Wild About Birds Nature Center

Happy New Year! We hope you have been enjoying the flocks of hungry birds at your feeders this month as much as we are. It’s nice to see Dark-eyed Juncos, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Pine Siskin mixed in with the many American Goldfinches at our feeders.

The songbirds have enjoyed a rather mild winter season thus far. Two bird species making a splash this early winter season have been the Stellerâ€™s Jay and Red-breasted Nuthatch. The two species have made the short distance migration in elevation dropping down into our valleys and visiting our backyard seed and suet feeders due to the lack of a certain pine cone preference they enjoy at higher elevations.

Steller’s Jay

Large crested jay with a black head and crest with a blue body. The head has a slight white eyebrow. Steller’s jays will visit backyard feeders and have a preference for black-oil sunflower seed and shelled raw peanuts (peanut splits). Suet is also favored in the winter season.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Blue-gray upper-parts and rust-brown underparts. Head has a black cap, white eyebrow, black eye stripe. At feeders, it will take sunflower seeds, peanut splits, and suet. Red-breasted Nuthatches hoard excess food by wedging nuts into bark and then hammering them in with their bills. They can be found creeping up and down the trunks of trees searching for insects within the bark furrows.

Mark your calendars! We have some fun events coming up.

February 10th is Bald Eagle Day at the Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management AreaÂ – 1325 W. Glover Lane (925 S.) Come learn more about the stately symbol of the U.S. while experiencing them in their natural habitat. We will be there fromÂ 9am â€“ 3pmÂ ready to teach and share our love of these birds. The UDWR will be providing spotting scopes for the public to get a good look at the eagles.

February 16-19Â is the Great Backyard Bird Count. Hop ontoÂ BirdCount.orgÂ and join us in recording which feathered friends are visiting our area. Whether youâ€™re looking out your window, walking a nature path, or just running daily errands, we want to know which species and how many youâ€™re seeing.